News
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Its Tax Season That Means More Scams Aimed At Older Taxpayers
A powerful Congressional deficit reduction "super committee" is working on a plan, due by Thanksgiving, to lower the federal deficit by at least .2 trillion. "TSCL is deeply concerned that a change to a more slowly-growing 'chained' consumer price index (CPI) which is used to calculate the annual COLA boost may be part of the plan," says Larry Hyland, Chairman of TSCL. The proposal to switch to the chained CPI was given serious consideration in the closed-door debt limit meetings by Congressional leaders and President Obama earlier this summer. Switching to the chained COLA was proposed by two prominent deficit reduction commissions and has received support from both Republicans and Democrats. .Two years ago, President Obama bypassed Congress to halt the deportations of almost 5 million unauthorized immigrants. The Supreme Court recently tied on a ruling that allowed a lower court's ruling to stand, barring Obama's executive action. Do you believe President Obama overstepped his constitutional limits? .The Moment of Truth Project report calls it a technical correction and argues that government would simply be making the CPI more accurate. But if that's true, why haven't the economists at the BLS gone ahead and changed it already? They can't. The reality is that it requires a legislative change. It's not simply a matter for BLS economists. It's a matter for Congress —the same lawmakers who are answerable to you and me. … Continued
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Legislative Update For Week Ending May 16 2014
To help protect the buying power of benefits, TSCL supports legislation that would provide a modest boost in benefits, base COLAs on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) and guarantee a COLA no lower than 3 percent. To learn more, visit . .What is likely to happen if the test is not done? .Shoring up the Medicare Part A Trust Fund will be more difficult. Simply cutting payments to hospitals would not be in the best interests of patients or hospitals, because many medical centers are already faltering financially. … Continued
According to an article in The Hill, a Washington, D.C., newspaper that covers legislative matters in Congress, it just might happen. .The suit is over Obama's executive actions on immigration announced last November. The executive actions would expand a program that protects immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Another major part of the orders would extend deportation protection and provide work-authorized Social Security numbers to illegal immigrants who are parents of children born in this country and who have lived in this country for some years. .This week, lawmakers in the House remained in their home districts to continue the summer recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, September 4th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and hosting town hall meetings in their home districts. The Senior Citizens League encourages its supporters to attend these events and to ask important questions of their elected officials, like the following five... .It is bad enough that non-medical professionals are involved in criminal activity like this but for a doctor to be part of it is outrageous. .Last Friday, lawmakers in the House and Senate adjourned for a week-long recess. They are expected to return to Capitol Hill on Monday, May 9th. In the meantime, many Members of Congress will be attending local events and holding town hall meetings, presenting constituents with an excellent opportunity to have their most pressing questions answered. .In the meantime, TSCL would like to remind you that many Senators and Representatives will attend local events or schedule town hall meetings while they are in their home states and districts, giving constituents an excellent opportunity to voice their concerns. We encourage you to approach your Members of Congress and request their support for fair cost-of-living adjustments, Notch fairness, a permanent "doc fix," and other key issues. .The Advisory Office would give seniors hope in recovering their assets. It would address the low reporting rates by directing the FTC to educate seniors, families, and caregivers about the process for contacting law enforcement after being targeted in a fraud scheme. It would direct FTC to help improve the nation's fraud response efforts by reforming FTC's complaint system as well as enhancing fraud surveillance through better coordination with law enforcement agencies. . Zero premiums are also likely to end very soon. If Congress should cut reimbursements to plans as has happened in the past, some plans may respond by no longer offering coverage at all. Should Paula enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan and her plan ceases to offer coverage in the future, Paula could have problems finding something comparable that she could afford. .All of that raises questions about whether Democrats have enough votes to advance H.R. 3 out of the House, but in any case, it's highly unlikely that the bill could get the 60 votes necessary to defeat a filibuster in the Senate.
